The fishing program with the 1st grade class at the Valley Elementary School started in the spring of 2004. We were unable to do a creek critter exploration, so the teachers were looking for something else hands on and education for the students to do for the field trip. They were also looking at ways to use the composting worms the kids had been taking care of for a large part of the school year. Thus, showing the kids a food chain and food web - looking at food waste eaten by the worms, the fish eating the worms, and then them eating the fish.

Every year since the students have raised composting worms as part of a worm column composting program. I then go in and teach them to cast and then they come out and fish (if the weather allows), so far each year since we have been able to fish, though not always able to go catch creek critter's. Which is another hands on program looking at life below the water and simple food chains/webs, etc.

I love teaching these kids and others. This year we had just over half the class had gone fishing, though not all had ever caught a fish before. Not all of them did catch a fish the day of their fishing trip on May 23, 2008, but almost everyone had a bite or two. Some even caught some great fish. We had many parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and family friends along to help out. It was a great event. It was so much fun hearing and watching the kids fish last Friday, it is a all natural high to know they are now "hooked on fishing".

On May 21, 2008, I took my prekindergarten class, consisting of 18 four and five year olds, on a fishing field trip. We were fortunate enough to be able to use a pond near the school, (thanks to the generosity of Pat & Virla Horsfield.) We used dowel rods with a line, hook, and piece of corn. The kids just dipped their hooks in the water and almost instantly had a fish on the line. The kids and parents were AMAZED at how quickly and easily they were able to catch fish. It was definitely the perfect place to introduce young kids to fishing!!!! The smiles on their faces tell the story!!

I took my ex-father in-law and son fishing on Binder Lake near corning Iowa on May 20th, 2008. Fishing was excellent for spawning bluegills. We caught 80 and kept 50 for supper. One of the good experiences that happened besides having family together and in this case back together was to introduce an experienced older angler to a new technique - fishing with a small 1/32 ounce black marabou jig just below a small bobber. He had never fished anything so small and was a little skeptical, but after trying one of mine and catching lots of fish he was convinced. He is excited to try this small jig at some of his favorite fishing lakes in the Cedar Falls area where he is from.

I don't remember the year, but I do know it was my first introduction to Icaria crappie fishing.

It was one of those planned fishing trips with my father... matter of fact it was one of the first. I had the anticipation only a small child could have. You know where you lay sleepless in bed and minutes pass on the clock like days. When is the morning going to get here???

There was no waking me up! As soon as my dad stepped foot in my room, I had my clothes on before my feet hit the floor. Our destination? It was Lake Icaria to do some crappie fishing.

Before we went fishing, we rolled right up to a metal building with an open door over looking the lake. I was on my dad's heels the whole way. He was not going fishing without me that day! We passed though the door into the dull-lit building with a plywood floor where there was an endless sight of fishing lures, line, rods, reels, etc. to my young eyes.

Suddenly, a deep voice hit me on my left side that shouted, "Dallas!" I quickly turned to see two men standing there. They were quite opposite of one another. The one that shouted at my dad looked like a giant. If I had to be a dollar, I would say he had to bend over to keep his head from hitting the ceiling. He was like no other man I had seen before. He had a pair of glasses hanging by a small chain around his neck. His T-shirt was heavily worn with a picture of some lake, and he wore frazzle ended jean shorts, which one of his pockets stuck through a hole about half way down on the front of his thigh. The other man was much shorter about the size of my dad and had a lighter complexion than the tall man. He wore jeans and a T-shirt that were grease stained. His brown leather boots had holes worn through the toes and were unraveling at the seams.

The shorter man said, "You must be going fishing?"

My dad told him that we were, and we needed some of their sure-fire minnows. He came over and grabbed the bucket from my dad and went back to this odd looking tank that made a constant growl sound. Curiosity got the best of me. I followed him to see what this thing was. He flipped open a wooden lid, grabbed a small dip net, and said to me, "I'll see if I can dip up a couple". I stood on my tiptoes so I could peek over the edge of the tank to see what he was after. With one quick scoop he filled the net with minnows. He scooped some in the bucket and handed it to me. I quickly headed to my dad to show him what filled the tank. With the bait in hand, we headed out to do what we had planned.

My dad grabbed our rods, walked to the edge of a dock, instructed me on how to hook a minnow, and told me to dangle it in the water along the docks. It did not take me long to put two and two together. Dangled minnow equaled crappie on my fishing pole! It took me longer to put minnows on the hook than it took a crappie to take the minnow. Even when I look back now, I realize my memory of that day of fishing was not skewed by early age exaggeration.

I am Keith Boden and I took a kid fishing. My wife and I live in Sioux City, but we have a two bedroom mobile home on Big Stone Lake in south Dakota, that we call our cabin. Now that we are both semi retired we can spend most of the summers at the cabin. When I signed up to take a kid fishing, two years ago, I thought I would take one of my 6 grandsons. Fun, they all wanted to go fishing.

This story is about one of them, Andrew Olson. He is nine years old and he is starting to get hooked on fishing. Last February, 2008 Andrew came to visit just as I was going through my tackle box. He told me he needed a bigger tackle box. I told him to save his money because on March 1st the River City Anglers were having their swap meet. This is a good place to get all kinds of tackle and even a new tackle box. So on March 1st Andrew came over with his $20 which he had saved. We went to the swap meet and the first thing Andrew bought was a brand new tackle box for $20,a nice big one. You should of seen him lugging that big tackle box around that swap meet for two hours while we bought tackle to put in it. That was harder than taking him fishing, because he needed it all. When we got out to the truck I told Andrew that his mom and dad was going to bring him up to the cabin in May and I was going to take him fishing in the boat. His dad has taken him fishing last summer to some farm ponds and Browns Lake and he liked that.

So on May 29th, 2008 Andrew and his mom and dad arrived at the cabin, and the first thing Andrew did was put his tackle box and fishing pole in the boat. The next morning 6:00 am, you know who was ready to go fishing. Our first day on the lake Andrew, mom, dad, grandma and grandpa in the boat, and you know who caught the first fish (drum 8lbs) - Andrew. Then we all started catching drum and stripped bass. Of course the only 17 inch walleye we got was caught by Andrew. That really got Andrew hooked on fishing. The next five days he caught three more walleyes and a lot of bass and drum. We got to have two good meals of walleye and Andrew found out that his 17inch walleye was very good to eat. He would not let any one else eat his fish.

I think that if you take a kid fishing, you need to take him where he can catch fish. I guess I, not only got Andrew hooked on fishing, but by the time his mom and dad left to go home they were pulling a new fishing boat with them. I know who will be going fishing with dad and grandpa a lot more in the future, so if you can take a kid fishing, do it and you will see for yourself what fishing can do for everyone young or old.

On my 8th birthday, my dad and my uncle took me fishing to the Rutland Dam. We got in Dad's boat and sat on the back side of the wall (locals know what I mean). I remember catching a lot of fish, but the biggest deal for me was that I caught the largest fish. While my dad and uncle were displaying their fish slaying prowess on walleye, I caught a carp that was twice the size of the biggest walleye. All I knew was, mine was the biggest!!

We found out fishing with our four granddaughters with only two working rod and reels did not work. So off to the nearest town to buy a new rod and reel. Later we discovered we had a faulty reel. Back to town and exchanged the rod and reel plus purchased a new rod and reel along with one extra new reel. Got more worms and now we were surely ready to teach them to fish.

We spent three days camping with tons of casting and casting. Although they caught no fish, they had many bites and several made it to shore before they got away. The girls are 13, 9, and twin 6 year olds. The 9 year old and the twins had never fished before. We had a wonderful experience and they asked if we could camp and fish at Spring Lake again next year. We were proud of how they put their own night crawler on the hooks after only watching a time or two. Lots of lines criss/crossed but they always got their lines back to shore without a huge mess.

We are so happy to have the time to teach them the wonderful sport of fishing.

Grandpa & Grandma did have to come home & rest.

I took my 3 year old on his first fishing trip in August. We went to a local pond. I had taught him to cast, but his retrieve was a bit “sluggish.” We headed down to the pond, and I loaded up his hook. His first cast was about 20 feet into the pond and by the time he had the hook back up, there was no bait left. We tried a couple of more times and had the same result. I let him do all the work, but it didn’t matter because we had fun. We were out for about 2 hours and the biggest event of the day was when another angler came over and showed us the 20-22 inch small mouth that he had caught. Now, every time we drive by the pond, I get told about fishing and the big fish the man had. I can’t wait until he gets his first fish on the hook. I am sure it will be grand.

I took my grandson Josh Lee (10 years old) fishing on Horse Lake, a small lake just North of Sioux City, last Saturday. We just moved there and I don’t have a boat yet so we just fished off the dock. His favorite lure is a ¼ oz white twister tail jig.

The lake is a little weedy this time of year and just about every time he would cast out it would come back full of weeds. After about 15 minutes of this he was getting frustrated. I was fishing a green Berkley power worm hooked weedless and had managed to catch a 2lb bass. He requested I help him rig something weedless on his rod. After digging through his tackle box, he found a green rubber floating frog that I gave him a while back and it was weedless. He has fished the frog before and had no luck with it, so he was not too confident with the choice.

I taught him how to tie the frog on his line and he started casting. It wasn’t 5 minutes and I hear a big splash followed by Josh yelling. I asked him, do you got one? He said oh ya, that thing hit that frog and came shooting right out of the water. After a brief fight Josh had a nice 17” bass at the dock. I showed him how to land a nice bass without a net. We admired the fish briefly and then Josh quickly released the fish to fight again another day.

We only fished maybe 2 hrs and didn’t get another bite but we had fun. I think maybe Josh has a new favorite lure and top water technique that he will use through his lifetime and hopefully pass on to others.

During the month of March, my family and I visited my in-laws in Florida. Every time we go, my father-in-law and I always go bass fishing. In November of 2008, we brought his boat up to shore so my 3 year old daughter could sit on the boat. In March, all she could talk about was going fishing with Grandpa on his boat, so we took her out on Lake Denton, in Florida to a spot that was really hitting for bass. We rigged her pole with a bobber and minnow, she cast the line out. We told her to watch the bobber, she eagle eyed the bobber, suddenly she started yelling “my bobber, my bobber”, and she had caught a 6 inch bass on her Barbie pole. She was very proud of her catch and the next day at church her fish went from 6 inches to about 18 inches, a true fisherman. She's all set to go fishing back her in Iowa, just waiting for the weather to warm up.

My 4 year old daughter and I frequently visit a farm pond we own in central Iowa. The pond is only three years old, so the largemouth bass and bluegill still have a lot of growing to do. Last summer, we packed up the Snoopy pole, night crawlers, lots of snacks, and the camera. Dad was on a mission for the "first fish" picture. Fortunately we caught her first fish as planned, which turned out to be a 12 inch largemouth bass. We snapped a few pictures, and still show them off with pride. She was very excited then, and her enthusiasm has not worn off, which makes me very proud.

This month (April), we were at the pond again. She insisted we try our luck, despite the water temperature being low for the action to be real great. I wasn't about to discourage her, so we ran home, grabbed our gear, and tried our luck. I explained on the drive over that we might not catch as many fish as we did until it warms up, and she was OK with that.

Unfortunately, she was not able to prove Dad wrong. We didn't get a single bite. We fished for twenty minutes or so, and decided to call it quits. The reason this day stands out in my mind is that she left with a smile on her face. She wasn't discouraged. She is very young, and I hope that as she grows up, she will not have to catch fish on every trip to make it worth her while. For now, as long as there are strawberries and drinks, every fishing trip will be a success. For me, it's just the company that makes the trip worthwhile.

On May 23rd, 2009, I took my oldest son Brent and his son, my oldest grandson Lane, on a fishing trip. I started out on a beautiful Saturday morning heading for Creston to pick up my fishing partners for the day. We went to a small county lake south of Creston, I don't know the name, and discovered we were the only ones there. COOL! we can spend all the time we need to figure the bass out and get Lane, the least experienced angler in the boat, the opportunity to learn and try new things.

After 2 hours of getting a few, I decided it was time for grandpa to teach the youngest in the boat the art of fishing with a baitcasting rod and reel. Well, after 20 minutes of show and tell, and then watch and explain any corrections needed, Lane was doing a bang up job. We had only had 2 backlashes or as I say professional overruns, we started relaxing the tension on the spool to let him get more distance without a serious line problem. We gradually expanded from our original 20 to 30 ft casts to upwards of 50 ft or so. Then I explained accuracy was really more important than distance, but you really need to home in on both skills. I have to brag! He may not challenge K.V. just yet, but he is going to give Brent, his dad a go for his money by the end of this fishing season. Oh, I almost forgot. We caught a total 27 bass that day and in order of AGE ! Lane got 6 nice bass and a learning experience mixed with fun, Brent got 9 nice bass, and I got 12 nice bass including a 5 1/2 lb female ready to spawn. We practice catch and release so don't worry about them being taken especially at a bad time.

I can absolutely say that I was the big winner for the day even if I hadn't caught a thing. I got to enjoy the day fishing with one of my sons, and one of my grandsons. They will tell you they let me catch more fish, but you know about the tales fishermen tell !! Oh ya, it was my birthday too. It was worth the sunburn I got too ! Let's keep our kids fishing with us!

Whenever we get a nice day and a few hours free my 17 year old son, Nick, usually says let's go fishing. More often than not we head out to my friend Jesse Denman's farm in Earlham. It's about 25 minutes away from our home in Johnston. On May 24th we made that trip at about 4pm and got on the water at about 4:30. The pond is a good 6 acres and holds bass, crappie, catfish, bluegill and some huge grasscarp! We were both throwing topwater lures at the edges and picking up a good number of 2lb fish. I said to Nick, it seems like every bass in here is a carbon copy, 2 lbs. I knew there were bigger fish in the pond and we talked about how hard they are to come by. "Big bass don't get that way being stupid," I told Nick. "This is the time of year when you can hit a big female and you have just the lure to do the job." I'd picked up a nice one last year about this time and we put her back.

Not too long after that, Nick tossed his topwater tight against the cattails as we passed the outflow on the dam and the water exploded! I knew and he knew it was no 2 pounder! It didn't take too long before the big bass was securely between Nick's thumb and fore finger as he let out a big WHOO HOO!

The bass was 21.25 inches and we're guessing she weighed in north of 6 pounds. Nick's best largemouth to date.

It was a day to remember between Father and Son.

On Easter weekend, our family converged on the farm in north-central Iowa. My wife and I were coming from Iowa’s “left coast” in the Loess Hills, others were coming from the “east side” in Cedar Rapids, a short trip south from Belmond or an even shorter trip into the town of Kanawha. The family farm lies just a mile or two outside of town, and it’s the site of several annual meetings.

A trip into the outdoors for a little fishing with "Uncle Teeg" has become a part of many of these trips, whether it’s to drill holes in northern Iowa ice at Christmas time, or to chase bluegills and bass around Labor Day. For our Easter gathering, Tracy (17), Colton (11) and Bailey (9) snuck out to Twin Lakes, just a short drive down gravel roads from the farm, for a quick afternoon to wet a line. We’d heard about a perch bite at the lake, but some slow fishing with only a bullhead for Tracy to show for our efforts at three spots suggested we needed to change tactics.

The upper reaches of the Iowa River flow adjacent to these two shallow glacial lakes, so we headed over to see if we could round up something in the river. Bailey had gotten a "Hannah Montana" fishing combo for Christmas, and this was the first time for it to be out of the packaging. That rod sure was hot on the river – Bailey managed to catch three hard charging carp fishing with worms! Colton was fishing diligently in the same water but his lesson for the day was patience, and cheering on someone else who was catching fish – and knowing that he’d caught an awful lot in the past, and would only be adding more in the time to come.

It was a great spring day on the water, we returned to the farm smelling like fish – the smell of success for any fishing trip.

In June I had the chance to take my son, Trevor, my Brother, Jack, and his son (my nephew) David on a Fishing trip to Lake Kincaid in Murphysboro, Illinois. My brother and I fished when we were kids with our mom and grandfather. But as years have gone by, we all started having careers and family. We lost the thrill of fishing.

About 5 years ago I met a group of friends that got me back into fishing and I have not lost the fever. I've Gone on many fishing trips, but some of my best trips were with others who either had not fished in years or not at all.

My son and I have done some fishing together in the past years and I enjoy each and everytime we get to go. Means more to me then he will ever know. This trip I got the opportunity not only to get my brother back into fishing, but maybe get his son involved in such a great sport. I packed up all my gear and headed south to see them all. We probable had some of the best times we have had in years. We caught a number of bass and bluegills. My brother looks to be enjoying the sport again enough that before I left he picked up a new rod and reel and tackle. I hope my brother gets the thrill of taking his son on many more trips. It does give you a bond with your son or daughter that you just never foget.

It was a trip I will never forget. In these tough times it is just a great way to get the family together enjoy the outdoors, family and fun.

My 7 year old nephew, Matthew, was out for a summer visit. He loves to fish, but never has been fishing in Iowa. I took him fishing at Badger Creek State Park. Within the first hour he had caught an 11 inch channel catfish and a bluegill. This is a great lake to take kids fishing. Usually I just catch bluegill and bass, never a catfish. As you can see by the smile on his face, he was pretty happy with his catch.

About 8 years ago while I was serving as Elder in charge of Discipleship and Evangelism in our church, I initiated an annual fellowship event entitled "Ties That Bind". This was to bring together the churchgoers from our two morning services for an evening of feasting and fun. A part of the event was a drawing for door prizes which focused on getting random couples together for a supper, a boat ride on the lake, or some other event. If someone drew my name, the prize was that I would take them fishing for a day. In most cases this also included a shore lunch of freshly caught fish.

Over the years I have taken individuals trout fishing, ice fishing or bluegill fishing. One individual, who wasn't "into fishing," wanted his son to accompany us so he could enjoy the sport. After our day of fishing, catching bluegills, the son talked his grandfather into taking him fishing during the summer. They were able to spend many enjoyable hours together until his grandfather passed away the following year. I now have many fond memories and many fishing buddies.

This is my story of a trip I took one of my best friends daughter out fishing. We had gone one other time last year, but with better success this year. Natalie is 4 this year and we had the time of our lifes. We started by going to a couple local ponds that I know of. We had a crazy day catching bluegills on every cast you threw out there. I don't even think you would of needed a worm.

As we are sitting there she asked me to take her out on the boat. We went on a boat 2 years later that we rented at McBride Lake. This was a Wednesday evening so we where not able to rent a boat but we headed out anyway. I tried to explain to her that I was not sure if we would have the same success there that we did at the ponds. But she didn't seem to care, she wanted to go.

So we get there and I take her to the boat docks to do some fishing. I thought if nothing else she can work on her casting skills. As she is casting out her line and reeling it back in over and over again. I thought I would try a little fishing myself. I'm not catching a thing.

She yells at me and says Mike I think I am stuck. She is pulling and it looks like a snag. I take the pole and I notice its not a snag but its a nice fish. I gave her the pole back and said ok, lets reel it in you have a fish on. It was so exciting to watch and she was just smiling from ear to ear. We get it in and she catches her 1st Catfish it was about 1 lb but watching her you would of thought it weighed 20 lbs. That had to be one of the greatest days of fishing I have had. There where a couple of other gentlemen there that even came over and gave her a high five. She was the queen that day and she never forgets to let me know what she caught and learned that day. FYI, that day Natalie 50 bluegills and 1 catfish. Mike Zero. Guess maybe she took me fishing instead.

It was a cool fall day in September, I was fishing with chicken liver on that day. I decided to go towards the back of the pond. There was already some people fishing there. It is kind of hard to get to, the sun was going down. I started catching little channel catfish at first, like 2 pounders. I was using a smaller type fishing pole with a ten pound line. I had no sinkers on it and was fishing from shore. I threw my line out with chicken liver on the end. Waited about five or ten minutes. My fishing pole started going towards the water, had my fishing pole sitting on the ground. I hurried up and started reeling in, it was something big. I reeled so much, and let off, so much more and let off, it took me about 5 or 6 times until I finally got it in. It was a 10 pound channel cat, I never seen a tail that big or even a fish that big before. I got it on the shore where it was kind of muddy, it just laid there, and I grabbed it and threw it on the grass. That is the biggest fish I ever caught in my life.

It was summer of 1978, and I had asked a friend’s 8-year old daughter to go fishing. She was so excited! We drove to the Coon Valley gravel pit southeast of Des Moines, and while standing on the shoreline, I showed her how to bait the hook and cast the line. We caught a few bullheads and sunfish, nothing spectacular, but she was thrilled and was already asking if we could come again another day.

The “another day” never happened, and I eventually lost track of her and her family. The hour fishing trip we had spent together didn’t strike me as that monumental of an event, and over the years I never really thought much about it.

Zoom ahead about 20 years . . . I had since married (thus different last name and different circle of family and friends), and was sitting in a lawn chair in my yard having a summer garage sale. It was late afternoon, and the U.S. Mail delivery person was heading down my street stopping at the mailbox of each house. We each spoke a polite “Hello” as she handed me my daily mail and started off to the next house.

While I was concentrating on my letters, I hadn’t noticed she had turned around and was once again beside my chair. “Excuse me, is your name Sherry?”

“Yes,” I said thinking she must have more mail for me.

“You took me fishing when I was 8; I had such a great time, and I've never forgotten it!”

I was astonished; it really was Linda, now an adult! Never underestimate the impression even a small event can make on a child’s life!

We were at Camp Appanoose cooking and found out that some of the kids who come there every summer, come for the fishing. There are three ponds on the property and also Lake Rathbun, all in walking distance. They had a great week, riding horses, kayak and canoeing. But, there is something about just sitting on the bank and talking to a friend, watching a bobber, no matter how old you are.

Yearly, the Mississippi Walleye Club in Dubuque sponsors a Kid's Fishing Day. This year's event was on August 15, 2009. I volunteered to take several children fishing, in my boat, for a couple of hours. Two boys Will and Ethan went fishing and we had a great time. Will had never been fishing before from a boat; so he was a little nervous at the start. We all settled in and although the fishing wasn't the greatest, Will caught the biggest fish of his life. When he did hook onto the fish, his eyes lit up. He had a smile a dentist would be proud of. It was a pleasure to see someone enjoy fishing like he did.